Formula 1 2018

[ejstubbs]

I'd look cool in my shades driving a RED Ferrari through the streets of Monaco.

 

The only time I've been to Monaco was for the GP in 1987.  I travelled down there from Turin, where I was living at the time, with a pal in his RED Triumph Spitfire roadster.  I can promise you that we got a few admiring looks driving through the streets outskirts of town.  Well, the car did, anyway; I guess exclusivity always has a certain appeal (we certainly didn't see another one all the time we were there, while Ferraris, Maseratis & Porsches were a dime a dozen).

 

I'm not entirely kidding either: we certainly heard a few admiring remarks ("Guarda!  Che bella spyder") as we cruised along, trying to look cool while frantically wondering where on earth we could park the damn thing and still get to the circuit in time to see the race...

 

We actually made it into town in time to see the end of the morning warm-up.  I say "see" it but truth be told there's not a lot you can actually see over six layers of Armco barrier from thirty feet away, but the NOISE that they made coming through Casino Square - I'd never heard anything quite like it (and I'd been to a fair few GPs in my time prior to that).  The way it assaulted your ears as it reverberated between the chi-chi millionaires' mansions and apartment blocks was just something else.  We watched the race from rather further away, an area called the "pelouse rocher" (basically the Grimaldi's back garden, as far as I could tell - the steep bit above the harbour that they don't use much!)

 

We got drenched on the way back to Turin, caught in a storm in the mountains before my pal was able to find a safe place to pull over and put the roof up.  Great weekend, though!

[Andrew P]

Just as much as pretty much every Briton believes the same about Lewis and every Italian will tell you Vettel can do no wrong and he isn't even an Italian!

 

Not having seen the race (I don't pay and never will!) nor any footage of the incident, but I did see a "key moment" photo of the action and Lewis is clearly not sufficiently past Max to have 'won' the place. (how else would Lewis hit Max' rear tire!) So Lewis should have yielded and try again in the next corner. Max is on the race line and has every right to defend his position (no blue flags). Key in this situation is the fact that even as Max continued (prior to his retirement 3 laps later), there was no investigation by the marshals, so they saw it as a race incident. (which it was)

 

Me tuppence

It was Max that dived down the inside of Lewis mate, he was coming from 15th to Lewis's 9th on the grid.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Andrew P

[njee20]

Just as much as pretty much every Briton believes the same about Lewis and every Italian will tell you Vettel can do no wrong and he isn't even an Italian!

 

Not having seen the race (I don't pay and never will!) nor any footage of the incident, but I did see a "key moment" photo of the action and Lewis is clearly not sufficiently past Max to have 'won' the place. (how else would Lewis hit Max' rear tire!) So Lewis should have yielded and try again in the next corner. Max is on the race line and has every right to defend his position (no blue flags). Key in this situation is the fact that even as Max continued (prior to his retirement 3 laps later), there was no investigation by the marshals, so they saw it as a race incident. (which it was)

 

Me tuppence

1) Max ran Lewis off the track having gone down his inside, Lewis didn't not yield he ran out of road, if Max requires the other car to leave the road to avoid a collision one could say either he was being ambitious and didn't have space, or he was unnecessarily crowding the other car

2) there was an investigation, no further action warranted

 

There does seem to be a blinkered view of Max's abilities from his home nation (or their representative on here anyway!) which hasn't yet been borne out in results. He's had a few good ones for sure, but he still makes a lot of mistakes, more than any of the other top drivers. I don't see the same with Hamilton and Britons at all actually. He seems to come under a fair bit of flack. Usually entirely justified.

[Oldddudders]

It was Max that dived down the inside of Lewis mate, he was coming from 15th to Lewis's 9th on the grid.

 

And then tried to force him off the circuit. Lewis was left with nowhere to go within track limits. Not surprising the cars touched. 

[ejstubbs]

Not having seen the race (I don't pay and never will!) nor any footage of the incident, but I did see a "key moment" photo of the action

 

Have a look at this (before it gets taken down - don't worry, you won't have to pay anything) and see whether your analysis still stands.  You may find that trying to make authoritative pronouncements about a dynamic situation like that on the basis of a single photograph is rarely going to be particularly successful.

 

Lewis is clearly not sufficiently past Max to have 'won' the place.

 

Max was trying to pass Lewis.

 

Max is on the race line

 

Not if you look at the line that every other driver was taking through those corners.  Max ran very wide and pushed Lewis out to the edge of the track.  (And here's another thing: backing off the throttle suddenly on the exit from a corner is quite a good way to make bad things happen*, even in an F1 car.  They may look like it, but they don't actually run on rails.)

 

Key in this situation is the fact that even as Max continued (prior to his retirement 3 laps later), there was no investigation by the marshals, so they saw it as a race incident. (which it was)

 

Just because it's judged to have been a racing incident doesn't mean that one driver wasn't culpable.  Happens all the time without a penalty being imposed, especially if the driver didn't gain any actual advantage (which Max clearly didn't, since it put him out of the race).

 

And by the way: it's the race stewards who investigate incidents, not the marshals.

 

Don't get me wrong, I admire Max and enjoy watching him race.  Who wouldn't admire someone who could pull off the passes he did in Brazil in 2016?  (The one at about 0:37 here is just outrageous!)  I thought he was rather harshly blamed for the crash with Grosjean in Monaco in 2015 (like Max said, Grosjean seemed to me to shed a lot of speed, a lot sooner for Sainte Devote than he had the previous lap). But last Sunday I think he was the architect of his own misfortune.

 

* I could tell you a story about that.  About the time I totally misjudged the tightness of the exit to a roundabout, lifted off in a panic, and ended up spinning backwards down the approach side of the exit road.  I was blessed that night: there was no-one else around and the only damage to the car was a burst rear tyre from hitting the kerb rather hard.  I managed to limp in to the car park of a nearby pub to get the wheel changed in a safe place.  Even better, it wasn't my car: it was a company pool car that I was only driving while waiting for my new company car to be delivered - and I know that some colleagues had managed to do a lot worse to other pool/company cars and not suffer any comeback!

Edited April 12, 2018 by ejstubbs

[newbryford]

Just as much as pretty much every Briton believes the same about Lewis and every Italian will tell you Vettel can do no wrong and he isn't even an Italian!

 

Not having seen the race (I don't pay and never will!) nor any footage of the incident, but I did see a "key moment" photo of the action and Lewis is clearly not sufficiently past Max to have 'won' the place. (how else would Lewis hit Max' rear tire!) So Lewis should have yielded and try again in the next corner. Max is on the race line and has every right to defend his position (no blue flags). Key in this situation is the fact that even as Max continued (prior to his retirement 3 laps later), there was no investigation by the marshals, so they saw it as a race incident. (which it was)

 

Me tuppence

 

YouTube is your friend - or maybe not in this case!

 

See about 0.43 in and Seb's comments at the post race interview

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjrbrBVKOeQ

 

Cheers,

Mick

[57xx]

Not having seen the race (I don't pay and never will!) nor any footage of the incident, but I did see a "key moment" photo of the action and Lewis is clearly not sufficiently past Max to have 'won' the place. (how else would Lewis hit Max' rear tire!) So Lewis should have yielded and try again in the next corner. Max is on the race line and has every right to defend his position (no blue flags). Key in this situation is the fact that even as Max continued (prior to his retirement 3 laps later), there was no investigation by the marshals, so they saw it as a race incident. (which it was)

 

Ah the old "Heisenberg uncertainty principle" problem.

 

Max was overtaking Lewis, not the other way round. Max open up his steering and squeezed Lewis out when he had no need to. 

 

So the answer to "how else would Lewis hit Max' rear tire!" is that as Max pushed Lewis wide and as Max was driving past him, HE ran into Lewis's front wheel with his rear wheel. Simples. 

Edited April 12, 2018 by 57xx

[57xx]

Don't get me wrong, I admire Max and enjoy watching him race.  Who wouldn't admire someone who could pull off the passes he did in Brazil in 2016?  (The one at about 0:37 here is just outrageous!) 

 

Same here, and his catch at 0:59 was outstanding.

[Andrew P]

Another Max FAN here, but not for that move mate.

[Oldddudders]

And, just to head us all off at the pass (as they used to say in tv Westerns!) Lewis sought out Max in the paddock in China and they shook hands. They think it's dead and buried and so should we. 

[Andrew P]

And, just to head us all off at the pass (as they used to say in tv Westerns!) Lewis sought out Max in the paddock in China and they shook hands. They think it's dead and buried and so should we. 

Nice Post Ian.  

 

And so to China = 

[Andrew P]

Raikkonen seems to have come alive this year.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/23142231/lewis-hamilton-edges-kimi-raikkonen-0007s-fp2-chinese-gp

Edited April 13, 2018 by Andrew P

[trisonic]

Raikkonen seems to have come alive this year.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/23142231/lewis-hamilton-edges-kimi-raikkonen-0007s-fp2-chinese-gp

 

Yeah, he finally got rid of the mechanic that he disliked.....

 

Best, Pete.

[trisonic]

I would, can I have one P L E A S E?

 

I'd look cool in my shades driving a RED Ferrari through the streets of Monaco.          

 

Or even Manchester....

 

Best, Pete.

 

(who thinks you are cool anyway).

[Andrew P]

At last, some common sense, no Grid Penalty, just a fine.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/23146958/mclaren-fined-5000-euros-another-botched-f1-pit-stop

[Andrew P]

QUESTION =  Why do F1 Cars still have wing mirrors?

 

A small micro camera with a wide angle lenses fitted each side of the cockpit,  and a small screen each side of the dash like a mirror inside, would work just as well and not vibrate or cause wind resistance.

[57xx]

F1 in 360!

 

Just stumbled across these videos last night. I was wondering why it was called 360 and the camera angles were a bit rubbish when watching on my tablet. It was only when I pick it up an moved it around that I realised how good they are! It works on a PC by clicking and dragging on the screen, but for best results cook at 180* for 30 mins, use a mobile device.

 

Lewis

Seb

Max

Valtteri

Nico H

Guido

 

Ok, the last one is a different sort of 360...

Edited April 13, 2018 by 57xx

[njee20]

Very cool!

[Oldddudders]

FP3 speed trap data shows the five fastest cars in a straight line all have Ferrari engines. They may have found something.

[Andrew P]

What ever it is that there feeding that Prancing Horse, it's certainly working.

 

It wouldn't surprise me to see Max get the jump on Lewis and possibly even Bottas on the first lap.

 

It could be an interesting Race, and I think Mercedes will need to re think the Race Strategy for tomorrow to avoid total humiliation. Toto won't sleep well tonight.

[alfsboy]

QUESTION =  Why do F1 Cars still have wing mirrors?

 

A small micro camera with a wide angle lenses fitted each side of the cockpit,  and a small screen each side of the dash like a mirror inside, would work just as well and not vibrate or cause wind resistance.

There no arguing with an old analogue mirror.It either works or falls off.Can you imagine Max with an electronic mirror ...or the Perez twins?

[sp1]

QUESTION = Why do F1 Cars still have wing mirrors?

 

A small micro camera with a wide angle lenses fitted each side of the cockpit, and a small screen each side of the dash like a mirror inside, would work just as well and not vibrate or cause wind resistance.

Does the design of the mirrors create some downforce, however small?

[Andrew P]

Does the design of the mirrors create some downforce, however small?

None seem to have any aerodynamic shape to them, ALL are more like an afterthought.

[Oldddudders]

None seem to have any aerodynamic shape to them, ALL are more like an afterthought.

 

The size may be mandated so no-one gets an advantage.

[81C]

Interesting to see the F.I.A. car winning the first 2 races.